Rotary gas-engine.



P. DANIEL.

ROTARY GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE II. I9I2. IIENEWEIJ DEC. 19.1916.

Patented Apr. 10, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I.

.P. DANIEL.

ROTARY GAS ENGINE.

APPLICATION FILED IuIIEII, 1912. I IEIIEWED mac. I9. |916.

PaIenIed Api. 10, 1917.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

P. DANIEL.

ROTARY GAS ENGINE. APPLICATION FILED JUNE l1. |912. RENEWED DEc.19,19|6.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

30 Y* 24- 2] 3/ 2.9 5/ y Il@ A ,23 2(5) les 2.9/ n l UW V fr@ A -22 wim Wto@ :PAUL DEL, F JAMAICA, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR T0 MOSES ELY, 0F NEW YORK, N. Y.,

AND CHARLES FULLER, 0F PORT WASHINGTON, NEW YORK.

Specieation of Letters Patent.

Patented Jdpr. IO, 1917.

Application filed June 11, 1912, Serial No. 702,963. Renewed December 19, 1916. Serial No. 137,914.

To all u2/tom it may concern."

Be it known that I, PAUL DANIEL, a citizen of the Republic of France, residing at Jamaica, inthe county of Queens and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Rotary Gas-Engines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to-make and use the same.

Thepresent invention relates generally to certain improvements in that class of internal combustion engines in which a group of cylinders is arranged to rotate altogether around. agcentral xed shaft with which the working pistons are connected in` a well known manner.

Among the principal objects of the present invention are the provislon of means for discharge ofl such lubricant as gathers in the trunk pistons;l the provision of novel means for supplying and exhausting the gases to and from the revolving cylinders, which means are operated by simple and easily adjusted devices, and produce a maximum promptitude and efficiency of action in the moving gases; the provision of a `novel means for min ling the air and fluid fuel Vand for furnishing the same to the cylinders under adequate preliminary compression; the provision in a preferred form adapted particularly y.to flying machines, of a novel means for removing the unbalanced gyroscopic action hitherto inseparable from engines of this type, andin general in improving certain details of construction hereinafter described. It is to be understood that the specific form or embodiment of my invention shown in the drawings and hereinafter described is not essential to my invention in its fundamental nature, and is set forth simply by way of example.

With this understanding the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of one side of the'engine, Fig. 2 is a partial cross section thereof, Fig. 3 is a median section of one of the cylinders, and Fig. 4 is a median section of the preferred blower and mixer. v

'Ihe central fixed abutment member, which receives the-operating thrust from the pistons is composed of a divided shaft united F5 by an odset bridge directly connected to the working elements of the engine. The shaft comprises a hollow portion 10, through which air and gas or other fluid fuel are admitted to the crank chamber 11, which also receives the lubricating oil in a Well 'known manner which requires no detailed description. The general casing 12, to which are attached the cylinders 13, revolves around the shaft sections and 14 upon ball bearings or the like in av well known manner. The propeller blades, or other driven elements, may be connected with the revolving ca sing vby means of the socket or otherwise.

Within the radially -disposed workingcylinders 13 there slide the usual trunk pistons 16, 4which are provided with pivoted connecting rods 17 adapted to transmit pressure to the bridge 18 of the abutment member, through a ring 19 turning on ball bearings, in a well known manner.

In the preferred form of my engine the pistons and rods areprovided with certain improved features which are shown particularly in Fig. 3 of the drawing. In this figure, the piston 16 is shown in its o utermost position, uncovering the large inlet ports 20, near the bottom of the Working space in the cylinder 13.

Each piston comprises the usual thinwalled cylinder 16 and, in my improved form shown, this is provided with a special double head having the advantages of lightness, protection of steel parts from overheating7 and equipment with means for discharging accumulations ofoil. For these purposes the inner section of the piston head is composed of a light concave dish 21 of cast iron, in one piece with the sides of the piston, which is of a lnature to resist the ill eHects of the intense heat to which such head is subjected with each explosion.

In order to supply the necessary strength for resisting the shocks of the explosions, I supply a steel backing or bridge 22 provided with a central boss 23 into which is screwed the bolt 24, for fastening the head 21 to the backing. This backing is also made dish-shaped and is supplied' with an outwardly turned circular Harige 25, furnished with external threads, as shown, whereby the entire inner head or backing may be screwed home within the external cylinder 13.

rIhe backing 22 is provided on its under side with` suitable lugs 26 between which the' connecting rod 17 is pivoted by means of the .pintle 27. If desired, the compound 'cylinder head thus constructed may be further lightened by formation of suitable openings 28 in the backing 22.

In rotary gas engines of this general type, it is,of course, essential to supply lubricating oil to the crank chamber, and this oil is thrown outward to the working parts by centrifugal force. In practice it is `found that very unequal quantities of oil find lodgment withinthe respective hollow trunk pistons, and, owing to the unequal weights of these oil charges, the balancing of the engine is seriously disturbed. Itis one of the objects of the preferred form of my invention to provide means for obviating this difficulty.

YVith this end in view I have provided the outer head or backing 22 with openings 29' close to the flange 25, whereby the oil, thrown outward by centrifugal force, after owing outward on the dish-shaped outer face of the backing 22, may iind its way into the chamber between the two sections of the compound piston head. Here the charge of`o1l is stored only during the time of a double reciprocation of the piston, and each time the piston reaches its outermost position shown in Fig. 3, openings 30, flush with the outer face of the head 21, register with suitable openings 31 in the cylinder 13, allowing the oil caught in the chamber between the two heads to escape under the influence of centrifugal force.

Each ofv the revolving cylinders is furnished at its outer extremity with a large exhaust valve of the puppet type opening inward, vthe same being furnished with an outwardly projecting stem 32 carrying a head 33, against which bears a spring 34 to support the valve in closed position when the engine is idle.

'l The revolving casing 12, carries a spring ressed slidable pin 35 for each cylinder, urnished with a roller 36 bearing upon the cam. 37 fixed to the central abutment member. All of the rollers 36 bear upon the same cam, which acts in a well known manner to lift the pins 35'successively to control the exhaust valves of the various cylinders.

In the form of engine illustrated, this is accomplished by connecting each pin 35 to a pivoted rod 38, which is also pivoted to a lever 39 commanding the corresponding valve. The lifting of each pin 35 thus acts 'to lift the outer end of the corresponding lever 39 and, by thus depressing the inner end of such lever, pushes the puppet valve inward to release the exhaust gases. cylinder has the usual spark plug 40 connected by wire 41 to the commutator 42, whose structure forms no part of the' present invention. The arrangement of valves Each and air and gas supply herein described are broadly claimed in my pending application for UnitedStates patent filed concurrently herewith, Serial No. 702,962, filed June 11, 1912, and the improved method of gas control set forth in said concurrent application is practicable in connection with the improvements herein described and claimed.

In the preferred form of my invention shown, the means for supplying mixed air and gases under pressure to the cylinders of the two cycle engine are made capable of carrying out the further function of counteracting'the detrimental unbalanced gyroscopic effect observable in all rotary engines of this type.

The inlet openings 20 at the bottom of each cylinder are surrounded by a circular inlet chamber 43 (see Figs. 1 and 3). Intothe chambers 43 of the respective cylinders, the mixed air and fluid fuel are forced underconsiderable initial pressure by a combined aspirator, mixer and blower, preferably ofthe form hereinafter described.

The air and gas, suppliedfrom any appropriate source, enter the engine through the hollow shaft 10, pass through the crank chamber 11, and thence into a blower casin 44, through openings 45 in the side thereo The blower casing revolves with the main casing 12, and is provided at its outer periphery with as many large openings 46 as there are cylinders. Each opening 46 is covered by a closed hood 47 opening directly into a corresponding circular inlet chamberv 43.

Within the blower chamber 44 there revolves a series of fan blades 48 fixed to the central sleeve 49 turning on ball bearings supported upon the abutment section 14. (See Fig. 1). Means are supplied for imparting to the sleeve 49 and blades borne thereby a very rapid rotation in the direction opposite to that of the cylinders. For this purpose the following means are found useful. y

The pinion 50 is fixed upon the abutment shaft 14 and meshes with a number o'f symmetrically disposed planetary pinions 51, each turning upon its own bearing pin 52, fixed to the revolving casing 12. Turning with each planetary pinion 51 upon the same pin 52 is a larger planetary pinion 53, which meshes with a central driving gear 54 'fixed to the sleeve 49 carrying th'e fan blades ternal eiort to change the direction of its axis of revolution, and secondly, the rotating body itself tends slowly and continually to shift the position of its axis of revolution in a direction depending upon the direction of rotation of said body. This latter tendency is a source of annoyance in certain I cases where rotary gas engines of the present type are used, and particularly when such engines are employed for driving aeroplanes.

It is one of the advantages of the construction just described that the gyroscopic shifting tendency of the rotating cylinders can be counteracted by that of the-compensating mass afforded by the blades or vanes of the rotary blower, since the two revolve in opposite directions It is only necessary to proportion the superior speed of rotation of the blower in accordance with the superior weight of the cylinders and pistons, and this is a matter of mathematical design capable of solution on quantitativeprinciples familiar to mechanical engineers` My invention is capable of embodimentin a variety of forms, and Ido not limit myself to 'the details herein shown and described.

.,What Iclaim'is- 1 1. In combination with the rotatably mounted cylinders and pistons of an engine of the class described, a blower casingixed to said cylinders `so as to rotate therewith, baffle plates within said casing, revoluble blades within said casing, means for causing said casing and blades'to revolve in opposite directions, and means for conveying gases through said blower to said cylinders, substantially as described.

, 2.l In combination with the rotatably mounted cylinders and pistons of an engine of the class described, a crank chamber, a central abutment composed of two shafts one of'which is hollow and a bridge between them Within the crank chamber of the engine, a revoluble blower-casing mounted on one of said shafts and opening on one side into said crank chamber, revoluble blades within said casing, gas inlet connections between said casing and thel cylinders respec-.. tively, and means Afor causing said casing and blades to revolve around said abutment in opposite directions, substantially as described.

3, In combination with the rotatably mounted cylinders and pistons of an engine of the class described, said cylinders having inlet ports surrounded by suitable inlet chambers; a blower casing arranged to rotate with said cylinders and having peripheral openings, means for conveying gases from said openings to said inlet chambers respectively, rotatably mounted blades within 'said casing, and means for causing said blades to rotate in a 'direction opposite to the direction of rotation of said cylinders, substantially as described.

4. In combination with the rotatably mounted'cylinders and pistons of an engine of the class described, a central abutment upon which said cylinders are mounted, a fixed lpinion thereon, a blower casing rotatably mounted` on said abutment, planetary gears carried-by said casing one of which meshes with said pinion, fan blades within said casing rotatably mounted on said abutment, and a pinion iiXed to said fan bladesand meshing with one of said planetary gears, substantially as described.

5. In combination with the rotatably mounted cylinders and pistons of an engine .of the class described, a combined aspirator and blower for supplying airand I'iuid fuel to said cylinders, comprising fan blades, and means for automatically rotating said fan blades in a direction opposite to that of the rotation of lSaid cylinders and aroundthee samelaxis of rotation at such a speed i as substantially tocounteract thegyroscopic shifting effectv oflsa'id cylinders, substantially as'describedlj- 6. In an internal combustion engine of the type described, rotatably mounted cylinders vhaving oil discharge openin a trunk piston in each cylinder norma ly closing ders having oil discharge openings, a trunk piston in each cylinder normally closing said discharge openings-each of said pistons 'said discharge openings, each yof said pistons bein provided with suitable openings.

being provided with an inner head and a perforated reinforcing bridge inclosing a chamber for receiving oil, said chamber being provided with side openings adapted to register momentarily with said first named discharge openings, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof, I aix my signa ture, in presence of -two witnesses.

PAUL DANIEL.

Witnesses:

H. S. MAGKAYE, KATHABINE C. MEAD. 

